Nibble seeks permanent kitchen in Union Square

The Somerville Arts Council recently launched a search to find a permanent kitchen for Nibble, an initiative that supports international culinary diversity in Union Square.

Nibble is the food-focused branch of ArtsUnion, which has worked to foster art in Union Square since 2005. Nibble offers cooking classes, pop-up restaurants, market tours and an entrepreneurship program.

Nibble aims to support the immigrant community in Union Square by drawing attention to the plethora of ethnically diverse foods available in the neighborhood. By doing so, the council also hopes to curb gentrification.

“That to me is what creates such an exciting global fabric to Union Square. It’s something that makes Union Square special, that lends to the soul and the flavor of Union Square,” Cultural Director for the Arts Council Rachel Strutt said. “If we can help support some of the existing businesses from not getting pushed out, we would be thrilled.”

The Nibble Culinary Entrepreneurship Program (NEP), which began in 2015, helps immigrants learn what they need to get started in the food industry. This includes teaching the entrepreneurs – who pay $100 per semester to participate in the program – about things such as price points, how best to curate a dining experience and business development.

The entrepreneurs teach classes and sell their creations at festivals and pop-ups. The program also helps its entrepreneurs get ServSafe-certified by teaching them about food safety.

The program currently has eight entrepreneurs enrolled, who come from a wide variety of countries including Brazil, Colombia, India, Mexico, Somalia and Venezuela.

The entrepreneurship program has partnered with kitchen incubator Kitchen Inc. in the past, and is now working with Foundation Kitchen to provide a space for entrepreneurs to work, for cooking classes and for pop-up restaurants.

But Nibble is now eyeing its own kitchen space.

“We’ve always had great relationships with the kitchen incubators where we’ve worked, but we’re essentially a client of their kitchen incubator,” Strutt said. “I think Nibble is different in our global focus and our desire to really work to support immigrant communities.”

The kitchen would be a place where the entrepreneurs could experiment and serve their food in a restaurant setting. The kitchen would also host the program’s cooking classes, which the entrepreneurs teach.

“People could actually test out their restaurant ideas on a smaller scale and without the risk that goes into opening a restaurant full-on by yourself,” Strutt said.

Nibble would likely have rotating pop-up restaurants in the space, which would give several entrepreneurs the chance to serve their food and also keep things exciting for the public.

The Arts Council is looking at a number of spaces, some of which already have kitchens and others that do not. If the program were to settle on a space that has a kitchen, Nibble’s own space could be open in as few as six months.

In keeping with Nibble’s mission, Strutt says that the program would want its kitchen to be in the heart of Union Square.

Two NEP entrepreneurs, Carolina Salinas and Carolina Garcia – “Las Carolinas” – hail from Venezuela. They make arepas, a staple of Venezuelan culture that Garcia compared to the ubiquity of sandwiches in the U.S. diet.

Salinas and Garcia explained that Nibble has been instrumental in helping them navigate the U.S. restaurant industry. The two, who knew each other back when they lived in Venezuela, hope to open a restaurant in Somerville one day.

“It’s really a blessing to have people who help us,” Salinas said. “We are [happy] to know people like the people in Nibble.”

Earlier this year, the program helped Salinas and Garcia hold a pop-up where they served their food. About 70 people showed.

“Everybody asked how they can get our food, because they liked it,” Salinas said.

The Carolinas will be presenting their food at the upcoming Ignite festival on Aug. 13, along with other Nibble entrepreneurs. Hosted by Nibble and ArtsUnion, the festival is designed to celebrate the international food in Union Square. Strutt is expecting about 7,000 visitors to flock to the square.

“From a more national perspective, in these days immigrants can get such a bad rap,” Strutt said. “Our perspective is we’re not just helping immigrants – immigrants lend so much to Somerville.”